Tailgate Up or Down??

[rdharper]

Originally Posted by csimo

John has a long moustache.

Tomorrow, treacle will turn to brandy.

[csimo]

Originally Posted by rdharper

Tomorrow, treacle will turn to brandy.

I was hoping that someone would understand!!

[OwnerCS]

Hey this was an episode on Myth Busters. They filled up two identical new Ford trucks and drove both around a track until they ran out of gas-- one with tailgate open and the other shut. The truck with the closed tailgate went further and gotbetter mileage with the tailgate up. They contacted Ford and their response was the trucks are designed to create a wind roll in the bed that actually helps aerodynamics to push the truck down the road.
That particular Ford model produced better mileage with the tailgate up.

WARNING: Your mileage may vary, do not try this at home without parental supervision, offer void where prohibited.

[cisco]

Yes, its been proved that driving with the tailgate down changes the aerodynamics creating more down force on the rear end, hence reducing gas mileage.

[Jack]

Can you imagine swingin it open so when you go around corners it whacks people! Can you spell lawsuit!

As a side story, I had a friend back in H-School who had a Chevy Malibu, 283 hot rodded. He took his trunk and mounted hydraulics in it so when he hit the end of the drag strip, Instead of a chute, the trunk sprang up almost verticle and acted like the air brake on an F-15! I do remember him running from the cops in front of the school one time and when he went to make a turn he deployed the trunk air brake, scooted around the turn, and took off while the cops looked on.

Of course he could outrun the cops but he couldn't outrun their Motorola!

[crimsonaudio]

Originally Posted by rdharper

In any event, it can't hurt...

Study aerodynamics much?

It absolutely can hurt...

[geotech]

Originally Posted by rakapur

leave it up they proved that the pick up gets better mpg with it up
with the tailgate up it creates some kinda wind ball in the back allowing the air not to press on the back of the truck, when the tailgate is down the wind presses down on the back and you get lower mpg (i think thats what they said)

thats why the design is strange on the ridgeline the tailgate isnt the same size as the bed walls

In St. Louis, a chief design engineer for Honda told me that the 1/4" thick strip of ribbed rubber I mounted on top of the tailgate for protection interferred with the aerodynamics of the truck and therefore negatively impacted fuel economy. Imagine what dropping (or opening) the gate would do then. But I'm sure I posted this before.
Signed,
Phil Conners

[OwnerCS]

The spinning pizza box is the most interesting information. Yesterday afternoon I was driving with all the windows rolled down, at about 35 mph.
A feather blew in the passenger window then out the rear passenger window then back in the front passenger window and out again. I accellerated and it finally blew out the back window for good. Made me think about the spinning pizza box. Interesting wind movements around the Ridge for sure.

[rdharper]

Originally Posted by crimsonaudio

Study aerodynamics much?

It absolutely can hurt...

Do you have data?

[crimsonaudio]

Originally Posted by rdharper

Do you have data?

Do I have data for what? Showing that the tailgate affects gas milage or that changing the aerodynamics of the vehicle willy-nilly might not always be beneficial just because you "think" it might be?

I'm not certain either of those requires an answer.